It's a Mad World
by welcometomywonderland
Summary: "Not even the strongest tides will keep us apart, I promise..." A new take in Finnick and Annie's story, meeting during when Annie is reaped, up until the present time in Mockingjay. Has this world really gone mad? *DISCLAIMER, I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES OR IT'S CHARACTERS, though some are ones from my imagination! It all belongs to the wonderful Suzanne Collins!*
1. Chapter 1

"Annie! Come here and help me please!"  
I put the shell bracelet I'm making down, and run up from the beach into my home. Sand is everywhere, sticking to my legs, but I'm so used to it, it's like it's barely there.

"There you are seashell. Please come help me clean before I fall over from overworking" Kaia says, smiling. I giggle, and start helping her pick things up off the floor, and move to clean the dishes. There is a window right in front of the sink, showing off the beautiful ocean. The waves crash on the shore, and I can hear the splash even from here.

"Oh Annie," Kaia says, getting my attention, "you look just like her, when you daydream."

I swallow back my tears, and look down at my finger. I see the beautiful emerald stoned ring that belonged to mother. She died when I was 12, and every day, I feel the hole in my heart burn. They say it fades with time, but they were wrong. It hurts just as much as the day it happens. I've gotten through it, but that doesn't mean the pain isn't still there. My sister Kaia had it worse than I do, considering she was there when it happened. But she said, as much as it hurts, she moves on because that's what we need to do.

I snap out of my daze, and continue washing the dishes.  
"Seashell," Kaia says. That's what she calls me, and it makes me smile.  
"I think that's enough chores for today. How about you and I, go out and do something today!"  
"Kaia, we don't have to, it's fine" I fake a smile.  
"No, seashell, we're going out. Oh! I know, we can buy you a new dress!" she yells.  
I roll my eyes, and giggle as I throw dishtowel at her.  
"Okay. Only because I love you so much" I say.  
Her smiles gets even bigger, and she runs down the hall to her room.

"Get ready seashell! We're getting ready, and leaving!"  
"Great," I say sarcastically.  
"I heard that" she says, and I smile.

I go to my room, and throw on a blue t-shirt, and jean shorts. I have a bracelet I made of shells tied around my ankle, and I put on a pair of sandals. I walk to the mirror, and clip part of my hair in the front back, the rest hangs down of my shoulders, to the small of my back. I look in the mirror, and sigh. My eyes are green, and freckles are all over my nose. I wrinkle my nose as I take in my reflection. I'm nothing compared to Kaia. Her beautiful blue eyes, her shiny straight light brown hair. She is absolutely stunning, and I'm just… Annie. I feel ugly, but I don't show it. I don't need to impress anyone. Kaia walks in, in a flowy white sundress, that makes her bronze skin look even darker. _Beautiful, as always. _

"Ready seashell?"  
"Sure."

We walk down to the shops, a few minutes into town. The shops are busy today, filled with people looking down at the ground, being fairly quiet. We all know why.

_Tomorrow is reaping day._

Kaia pulls me into a small clothing store, throwing dress after dress at me, for me to wear tomorrow. After tomorrow, just one more year, and I'll be safe. I try about 10 dresses, all of them horrible. I scowl, while standing, looking at Kaia.

"Do I have to try it on? This is so tiring, Kaia, how do you do this all the time?" I groan.  
"One more. Pleeeaaassseeeee?" she begs.  
"One more, " I say, grabbing the dress from her hands. I put it on without even looking, and walk back out.

"Well, what do you think?" I say.  
Kaia turns around and gasps. Everyone in the store turns towards me, and is completely silent. I bite my lips nervously, and look around.

"Is it really that bad?"  
Kaia walks towards me, "Seashell… you look beautiful."

I look into the mirror, actually looking at the dress this time. It's a peach colored dress, with short sleeves. At my waist, the skirt of the dress flows outward, and stops a few inches before my knees. The whole dress is lace, and, yes, the dress is beautiful.

"We'll take it!" Kaia practically yells.

I'm admiring the beautiful texture of the lace, when I hear girly screams. I look out into the glass walls of the store, and see none other, than the _Glorious Finnick Odair. _He's being attacked by a swarm of girls, and I can't help but laugh. Suddenly, he looks up, looking right at me. He takes a second, then his eyes are looking elsewhere almost as fast as they came. I roll my eyes. It's annoying how full of himself he is. He's smiling and flexing for the crowd of girls, and I'm disgusted, and walk back into the changing room, and put on my other clothes.

Kaia and I walk home, and as soon as we get home, I'm falling to the couch, burying my head in the cushion.

" .Shopping." I murmur.  
"Get up lazy girl, help me make dinner."  
But I don't start to move.

"If you get up and help me, we can make your favorite…" she says.

I'm up and running to the kitchen, and she laughs. We make dinner, and sit down at the table, talking about everything and nothing.

We made Clam Chowder, and beer battered fish. It's my absolute favorite, though I'm not entirely sure why. I eat until I'm full, and wash the dishes. Ever since our mom died, our father, who is a fisherman, is never here anymore. He's always at sea, with his men. We haven't talked in years, but I don't really mind.

Kaia and I sit on the floor, doing a puzzle, trying to forget what's happening tomorrow. But it will never go away. It's always there, eating at the back of your mind. We finish the puzzle, and since it's late decide to go to bed. Kaia comes to my room with me, like she always does the night before the reaping, and calms me to sleep. I lay down, and she braids and unbraids my hair, humming the song our mother used to sing us to sleep.

"Kaia?" I ask.  
"Hm.." she says.  
"What if it's me?"  
She stops, tenses, but then relaxes and braids my hair again.

"It's won't be."  
"But what if it is."  
I hear her swallow hard, and can only guess she's fighting back tears.

"I don't know Seashell. But you can't get picked. You won't. I need you here to much."  
"Kaia, if it's me, I need you to know somethi—"  
"Annie, stop, you're not going to be picked."  
"Kaia, please just listen."

She's silent, so I continue.

"You are the most amazing sister I could ever ask for. You've been there for me, for everything. You stayed strong throughout horrible things, for me. You are the most kind hearted, most beautiful woman I know. I love you so much. Ever since Mom died, you've never left me, when you could of, years ago. You stayed. No words can possibly describe how thankful I am to have you. I just need you to know, that you are, and always will be the most important thing in my life. And some stupid game the Capitol plays every year, will never ever change that. I love you Ky."

She sniffles, and holds me closer to her. I let her cry, trying not to cry myself, because if I start, I know it will never stop. I've never done this before; I've never told her all of these things right before a reaping. But this year—it feels different. And I don't like it. We fall asleep, together. I am so lucky to have her.

I wake up the next morning, tired and groggy. Kaia is next to me, her breathing even. I get up without waking her up, and go to the bathroom. I jump in the shower, combing the knots out of my hair from the sea salt, and washing off all the sweat and salt on my skin. Being in District 4, means that no matter what, you are salty. It's not necessarily a bad thing though.

Once I'm done with my shower, I change into a t-shirt and shorts, and go down to make breakfast.

There isn't much here, but I know exactly what to make.

I walk back to my room, and put the bowls on the table, as I jump on top of Kaia.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, its annual breakfast time!"

She smiles, and gets up. On reaping day, we have our annual breakfast. Vanilla Ice Cream, with sprinkles and chocolate syrup. It's one of the few luxury's we get here.

We eat in silence, but it's comfortable. Once we're doing eating our nutritious breakfast, it's time for me to get ready.

I put on my dress, and a pair of white strappy sandals. Kaia comes up, and does my hair. She braids a piece of it, and wraps it up on top of my head, so it looks like I'm wearing a braided headband. The rest she leaves down, because she knows I feel to exposed when my hair is up. She goes to her room, and comes back with her makeup bag. I roll my eyes, but secretly, I love it when she does my makeup.

After about 10 minutes, she's done. I look in the mirror. My eye shadow is a light color, but it makes my green eyes sparkle. My lips are a light peach/pink that compliments my dress. My freckles are still there, but for once, they look like they belong there.

"You look exactly like Mom."

I look down at my ring again, and a small smile forms at my lips. Kaia comes over and hugs me too tight, and that's when I know it's time to go.

I sign in, and stand with the other teenagers, waiting to see if they'll be the one who gets called up. I'm playing with my mothers ring, looking down at the ground, my heart thumping in my chest. Someone with bright pink skin and green hair walks out onto the stage.

"Hello, District 4! Today, we honor you with the chance of becoming a Victor. The Capitol wishes you all the very best of luck! And May the Odds be Ever in your Favor! Now, shall we? Ladies first. "

She dips her hand into the bowl, and pulls out a single piece of paper. I'm holding my breath, shutting my eyes, and biting my lip.

"Niean Arstec!" is what I hear. No one moves, nothing happens.

The pink lady clears her throat and speaks again, "I said, Annie Cresta!"

My heart drops to my stomach, until someone behind me, who obviously knows who I am, pushes me forward, and the peacekeepers grab onto me, forcing me up the stage. I hear screams, most likely ones from Kaia.

I am pushed on stage, and she congratulates me. But her voice is muffled, and frankly, I'm not paying attention. I feel footsteps, and look over at a boy, who seems to be my age. He has black hair, and blue eyes, and he looks as if he's trying so hard not to cry. It's alright because I am too.

We're pushed inside the building, and placed in a small room, with a couch. I sit, and put my head into my hands, and lean over.

A few minutes later, I hear yelling, and look up to see Kaia, with tears in her eyes, slamming the door, and running over to me.

We sit there, hugging each other, crying, and she's stroking my hair.

"I should of known. When you said all those things… I should of know. You could tell, couldn't you? Oh, seashell, I'm so sorry." She cries even harder, and I'm the one comforting her now.

"Kaia, I can't do this! I'm to small, to weak, I can't! I can't kill people! What am I supposed to do!"  
"Annie, look at me! You can do this. You are going to do this, because I need you, do you understand me? You're gonna come home to me. Promise me!" she yells.  
"Ky, I can't, you don't understa—"  
"Promise me!" she yells again.  
"I can't promise that. I won't promise that. But I will promise, that I'll try. For you. You've always been there for me. It's my turn now. I promise I will do everything I possibly can so I can come home."  
"Okay," is all she says.

And we sit. And hug. And cry. Until the peacekeepers are coming in to soon afterwards, and their pulling her away from me, and I'm screaming and crying. That might have been the last time I will ever see her. I take off my ring, and hold it in my hand, clutching it to my chest, silently crying.

The door opens again, and it's the woman with pink skin, and green hair.

"Come along now Annie, we've got so much to do! I'm Anita by the way and I can just tell, we'll be the best of friends, don't you think? Well, we'll talk about that later, but right now, we need to get on that train, and head straight to the capitol!"

She's walking out the door, but I'm frozen in place.

"Well, don't just stand there sweetie, let's go!"

But I still don't move.

She smiles at the peacekeeper, saying "Look at that. Young things so excited, she can barely walk! I love it."

She grabs my arm, and I'm walking with her to the train, suddenly realizing the boy who was reaped with me, is also walking with us. He looks at me sadly, gives me a small sad smile, and then looks back down at the ground.

We're at the train, and Anita is excitedly rushing on the steps, eager to get inside. The boy walks up after her, but see's I'm not planning on moving, and walks back down.

"Annie," he says, causing me to look at him. _How do you know my name? _But then I realize, _oh yeah… I was reaped. My name was said out loud. Everyone knows who we are. _

"Come on, it'll be alright, I promise."

And I don't know why, but I'm trusting him, and he takes my hand, and leads me up the steps. I look around at the inside, and I'm awestruck. This is nicer than anything I've ever seen. Chandeliers, plush pillows on beautiful couches, extravagant foods and drinks everywhere, paintings on the walls, flat screen TV's, crystal vases with beautiful flowers, everything.

"Beautiful, right? But nothing compared to the apartment at the capitol. Well, I'll show you your rooms, and you can relax and freshen up. Dinner is at 6, don't be late!"

She shows us our rooms, and then I'm alone, in this beautiful room, on a train, to my death. I bring my knees to my chest, and cry until I'm sure I can't cry anymore. I look at the clock, and it's already 5:50, so I go to the bathroom, and splash some cold water on my face. I look at my face, and am thankful to see that it doesn't look like I've been crying. I dry off, and straighten my beautiful dress, that my beautiful sister bought me, and I'm walking off to the dining room car. I walk slowly, dragging my hand across the walls as I pass. When I finally find it, everyone is there, talking about who knows what. I watch them for a minute. I see Finnick Odair, sitting there, smiling away, and I roll my eyes. _How could you be happy right now? You've been through this, you of all people should know that the last thing anyone on this train should be doing, is smiling. _

Next to him, is an older woman, smiling at his attempt of a joke. Next to her, is the boy who was reaped. I wasn't listening when they called his name, and he was never in my classes at school, so I still don't know his name, and I feel horrible. And finally, there's Anita, chatting away, sipping her wine, and laughing. I walk further into the room, and everyone turns to look at me.

"Annie! Marvelous, you've made it, I was starting to get worried!" Anita says.

I look at the floor, not willing to look into the eyes of anyone. I quickly make my to my seat, and sit down, still avoiding everyone's eyes, which I can feel on me. An avox comes, and sets down a plate in front me, filled with food. I do however, look up to her, and give her a small smile that says 'thank you'. She nods, and walks away.

I stare at the food some more, but don't touch it. Food is the last thing on my mind right now, and I don't even think I could keep it down if I wanted to. I just stare and stare.

"Annie, darling, eat something! The food is delicious" Anita says.  
"I'm not very hungry," I say, in a small whisper, loud enough for her to hear.  
"Nonsense, you haven't eaten all day, please eat" she insists.  
"She said she wasn't hungry," the other boys says.

I look up and smile at him, then look down at my plate. It's silent, but the conversation soon continues, and I make a note to thank him later.

They talk for a while, but I'm not listening, and everything just feels numb.

"So, Annie," Anita begins again, "I looked into everything about your life, you too Michael," she nods over to the boy, who's name I realize is Michael, "and I found some interesting things! You're quite lucky Annie. It makes it easier when you have parent's who don't care, or are dead. And in your case, you have both!"

The room falls silent, and I can feel every eye on my, but I close mine and hold onto my mothers ring.

"Well, I know you Districts think that it's a punishment when you get reaped, and it's hard on you with loved ones at home, but you lucked out! No painful goodbyes from your father who left, or your mother who died. Tragic, but not the end of the world. How did she die, Annie? I already know of course, but you should tell us! Fascinating story, I must say, you were so young, and—"  
"Shut up!" I scream.

Everyone is looking at me even more, if that was even possible. I can feel the tears burning in the back of my eyes, and I get up, and run out of the dining room, back to the room I was given. I refuse to call it my room, because it's not, and it never will be.

I run in, and sit in the corner, holding my mothers ring, and crying. No one bothers me for the rest of the night. And for once, I'm thankful of them.

**A/N: Hey guys! So this is the first chapter, and I don't know, what did you think? To short, to long, to repetitive, what? Please let me know, I love feedback! Also, don't forget to review! Reviews motivate me to post faster, :D **


	2. Chapter 2

I'm woken up by the dryness in my throat. I feel even worse than last night, and I realize I'm still wearing my dress from yesterday. I don't want to take it off, but I need to.

I jump in the shower, and I wash away everything from yesterday. I like to think that it's all washing down the drain. I stand there for what feels like hours, until the water starts to get cold, and I get out, wrapping a towel around me.

I look at myself in the mirror, not recognizing even my own reflection. I walk out of the bathroom, and into the bedroom, when I scream. Michael is sitting on my bed, waiting.

"Oh, uh, sorry- I didn't know you'd be in a towel- erm, I'll go, and come back late—"

"What's wro—oh, well Mrs. Cresta, couldn't wait to be naked around me, could you?"

I look from Michael to Finnick, who just happened to walk into the room, and a blush forms on my face, causing me to go bright red. I rush back into the bathroom and shut the door. I hear the bedroom door closing, which I'm taking as a sign that they both left, and I cautiously walk back into the room.

I look through the drawers, and find clothes that were meant for me. They are all dresses, and I'm only assuming they gave them to me, because I should always look presentable. I settle on a lavender dress, and dry my hair, and walk to go get breakfast, because my stomach is grumbling.

I walk in silently, looking at the floor, and take my seat, right next to Finnick.

"Morning," he says, grinning from ear to ear. I roll my eyes, but I'm blushing even worse than before.

"Annie, dear, are you alright? You stormed off last night, we were all worried. The boys wanted to come see if you were okay, but I just figured you'd be okay soon," Anita says.  
"I'm fine," I reply.  
"Good" she smiles.

An avox brings my breakfast, and it's a bunch of foods rarely seen in District 4, and my mouth waters, but I don't show it. I slowly eat my eggs, and my mind floats to Kaia, and what she's doing right now.

"So, as you already know, Mags and Finnick will be your mentors! Annie, you'll be with Mags, and Michael, you'll be with Finnick. Your trainin—" Anita says, but Finnick interrupts her, "Actually, I'll be Annie's mentor."

I look up, confused, and he's smiling at me, so I look away, embarrassed again.

"Why? Finnick we had this planned out, and are you sure it's okay with Mags?" Anita asks.  
"More than okay, " Mags smiles.

"It's just, Michael already has agility and strength, and I figure, Annie could use a lot of training in that section."  
"Well, I suppose…"  
"Great!" Finnick says. I stay silent, but I can feel him watching me.

We've all finished eating, but we haven't moved from the table, when Michael speaks up, "Annie, I'd like to talk to you, if that's alright."  
Everyone turns my attention to me.

"Um, of course," I say quietly. He gets up, and walks to the other room, and I'm following him. He closes the door, but I'm thankful that I can still see Finnick, Mags, and Anita.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright from last night. I wanted to come after you, but Anita wouldn't let me."  
"I'm fine, thank you," I say, giving him a small smile.  
"Well if you ever want to talk, I'm here. My father died when I was young, so I understand."

His eyes get watery, and I grab his hand and give him a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm here if you want to talk to" I say. He smiles at me.

"Also, I wanted to talk to you about the arena—"  
I look down at the floor, and fiddle with my thumbs.

"I wanted to know—if you wanted to work together? If not, I understand, but I just thought with my strength and agility, and your intelligence, and your new training with strength, we could actually make it. But if you do say no, just please promise me one thing? Don't team up with the careers. They're ruthless Annie, just—promise me."

I look at him, shocked at the thought of us working together, knowing I would probably only slow us down.

"Michael—I'd love to work with you. But, what'll happen if it's down to us and one other person? Because I can't kill you—I can't kill anyone—I can't do it," and I feel the tears burning my eyes. He grabs me, and pulls me into a hug, and I cry into his shoulder, feeling weaker and weaker by the second. I feel a pair of eyes on us, and see Finnick, staring at the two of us, clenching his jaw. I pull away from Michael, wiping off the tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a mess. You don't have to do this you know. Just because you feel bad, you don't have to work with me, and babysit me. I'll be fine. And I promise I won't team up with the careers. But I'd only slow you down."

"No, Annie, I'm not doing this for your benefit only. You're a great ally, whether you believe it or not. If there is one person I'd ever team up with, it'd be you. You're more badass than you come across you know."

I laugh, and look back to the dining room. They're all talking about something else.

"Okay. I'll work with you."  
He smiles, "Great! Let's go back before they think we're trying to escape or something."

I smile as we walk back into the room.

"Have a nice chat?" Finnick asks, his voice threatening.  
"Uh, yeah," I say.

We get to the capitol, but I'm not really paying attention. All I want is to get inside, so no one "congratulates" me. We're in our apartment, and we all sit down in the living room, watching previous arenas.

"Tonight is the opening ceremonies! I'm just so excited! So, in just a few hours, you'll each be taken to your prep team, and get ready," Anita says.

I can only imagine what the costumes are for District 4 this year. Something tells me, I'll be a mermaid.

Apparently Finnick thinks the same thing, because he says, "As long as they don't have tails…" and we all start to laugh. It's nice feeling; this laughter. Because for one measly second, I forgot about The Hunger Games. I forgot about knot in my stomach. I forgot about what's coming up.

"So," Anita says, catching my attention, "what do you think of the capitol so far? Amazing, right?"

I roll my eyes, and pretend to listen as Michael talks about the differences here. I start to play with a strand of hair, braiding it, and unbraiding it, thinking of the way Kaia used to braid my hair all the time. Tears are forming at the back of my eyes, but I swallow hard and bite the inside of my cheek to keep them from falling. The room goes uncomfortable silent, when Mags speaks up.

"Let's play a game! Diffuse the tension?"  
"What kind of game?" Michael asks.

"Hm…. we could play charades?" Anita suggests. I'm up for it, considering it means she'll have to be quiet for some part of the game.

"Let's do it in teams! One of us is gonna have to be a ref or something, considering it's uneven. We'll switch later on."  
"I think I'll just watch," Mags says, giving me a warm smile. I smile back, and can't help but feel like Mags really does care about us.

"Alright, let's do Finnick and I, against Annie and Michael! Victors against Tributes!"

I shudder when she says tributes, but I hide it. We're in the capitol, I can't risk to be seen as scared of the games.

"Annie, Michael, you go first! Make it challenging," Finnick winks.

Michael pulls me over to the side, and keeps his voice low, so they don't hear.

"What do you think we should do?" he asks.  
"It's up to you. I'm up for anything," I say.  
"In that case—let's do a strip club!"  
"NO!" I scream, a little to loudly.

Finnick and Anita look over, laughing, and I can't help but blush.

"I was kidding. How about… we pretend to be Anita and Finnick. I'll be Anita, you can do Finnick. Are you up for the challenge?" he asks, grinning.  
"Let's do this," I smile back.

We walk back to the living room, trying to contain our laughter. I don't know how well I'll be able to pull Finnick off, without speaking, but I have ideas.

Michael holds up his hand with the number two, meaning two words. Well in this case, people.

"Two word's, got you" Anita says excitedly.

Michael looks at me, and is grinning ear to ear, and I'm holding back my laughter. He nods, and we spring into action.

Michael prances around the room, pretending to yell at things, and straightening his clothes, looking at his nails, getting over excited, the whole works.

As for me, I took the end of my shirt, and looped it through the front so my stomach was showing. I pretend to flex my muscles, and flip my 'perfect golden boy hair', winking at everyone sitting down.

Mags catches on right away, and starts to laugh. When she laughs, I can't hold it any longer, and I'm laughing too. Michael joins soon after and we're holding our stomachs, gasping for air.

"Nice one guys. But Annie, next time you try and be me, add a little more sexiness." He winks, and I fall over, laughing again.

We play for a while after, but then it's time to get ready for the Opening Ceremonies. I'm rushed to my prep team, and waxed, washed, exfoliated, and who else knows what until my skin is raw. I don't really pay attention to what they're doing; I'm going to be surprised like everyone else. Soon, it's time to get dressed, and I'm standing up, being poked and prodded until a lack of costume is on me.

I look in the mirror, and my mouth falls open. Over my breasts, are seashells, barely fitted, and very uncomfortable. A string of pearls connects the two seashells, then connects down to a flowy, floor length skirt. Basically my whole top is exposed, aside from the minimal coverage from the seashells, and the bottom is a filled with sparkles and a ball gown skirt. That's what it reminds me of anyways. Usually, I'd be uncomfortable wearing something like this, but right now, I feel beautiful. More beautiful than I have felt in a long time. My hair is in soft waves falling over my shoulders and back perfectly. The right side of my hair is pinned back by a diamond encrusted seashell clip. The dress is a sea foam green color, my favorite. And it matches my mother's ring, which makes me happiest most of all. My prep team does some retouching on my makeup, then I'm rushed downstairs to get to my carriage. I see Finnick, Michael, Mags, and Anita waiting for me. I'm coming closer, when I realize both Finnick and Michael are giving me odd expressions. It makes me self conscious and I automatically wrap my arms around myself. Mags notices my discomfort, and walks up to me, hugging me gently.

"You look beautiful Annie," she says.  
"Thank you Mags." I smile at her. I feel like I can trust her. I feel as if she's there for us, not just expecting us to die. She really cares.

Finnick comes up next, with a flustered expression, but then it goes back to his usual cocky smirk.

"You look very beautiful, Ms. Cresta," and he winks like he always does, and I role my eyes, like I always do, but this time I'm smiling.

My nerves take over, and by the time I even realize what's happening, the carriages are going backstage, and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. My feet are hurting from the heels, and I know I've been standing for hours, and all I want is to climb into the bed given to me(I still refuse to call it my bed, it never will be), and sleep. Sleep, so I can forget what's about to happen in a few days.

We walking back, and we say goodnight, and I'm ripping the dress off, though I'm careful not to rip anything. I grab a pair of shorts and long sleeve shirt, and head to the bathroom. I take a quick shower, change, and climb into bed.

_The sea, the sea, calling out to you and me_

_Waves rush in to caress the sand_

_Only to roll out again_

_The sea, the sea: calmness in its water_

_But in one fowl scoop_

_The calm has turned sour_

_The sea, the sea: breezes clear as day_

_Salty air meets our lips_

_Longer, will we stay?_

_The sea, the sea: soft sand beneath our feet_

_Breeze cooling our hot hands_

_One look at your eyes and I know_

_The sea, the sea: our ally and our friend_

_The seascape drawing us in_

_In triumph, two sweethearts together_

_Creating Minstrels in the sand_

_My eyes open, and I feel the sting of sea salt. I'm floating; floating in the water. Why am I in the water? _

"_Annie—" I hear as a whisper._

_I turn around and see her. Mom. _

_I let out a scream, but all that comes out is muffled sounds and bubbles. I need to breathe. I can't breathe. I'm trying, trying, trying to break the surface, but I can't. Air, I need air! _

"_Annie, shh, calm down."_

I stare intently at her, the way she's dressed like the goddess of the sea. Her dark hair flowing everywhere in the water. 

"_Annie, do what your heart tells you. You are in control of yourself. You must listen, and listen closely, only you can choose your path."_

"_Mom!" I try to scream again, but nothing, but water water water. _

"_You were chosen for a reason. It's not the best scenario, but this happened for a reason. Good will come. And I am always with you."  
"MOM!" I try to scream again, but nothing._

_Before I know it, she's disappearing. Gone. She was hear. But now she's gone. Forever. _

_Air, I need air! I swim, and swim, and swim, but I'm not getting closer to the surface. _

_I let out a frustrated scream, not caring anymore. _

I jerk awake, sweating and panting. Nothings changed, I'm still here at the Capitol. I'm still going to die. '_Only you can choose your path.' _It echo's in my mind. I jump out of bed, not bothering to look at the time, and run outside, gasping for air like I've never taken a breath before.

I slump across the concrete building, my legs dangling over the edge of the balcony, and I cry. Tears keep coming, but I don't care. Why should I?

"Annie?" I hear from behind me.

I quickly wipe away the tears on my cheeks, and hide behind my hair, but I don't say anything. I hear footsteps, and someone sits beside me. I don't have to look to know it's Finnick.

"Are you okay?" he asks. I can feel his stare burning into me.  
"I'm fine," my voice cracks.  
"It's okay to be scared you know."  
"I'm not scared." _I'm terrified._

"Then why are you crying?" His voice seems genuinely worried.  
"Well, I don't believe that's any of your business," I joke.  
He smiles, "it's my business when it's my beautiful tribute."

I feel a blush form on my cheeks, which are probably as red as a tomato, but thankfully it's dark, and it's not noticeable.

"Annie, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure," I say, hesitantly.  
"Why do you always have the ring on? It's beautiful, but you never take it off…"  
"It was my mothers." I whisper. "She died when I was young."  
"Oh, Annie, I'm sorry, I didn't know, honestly," he rushes out. I smile at his awkwardness, realizing that even the sexiest people can be cute and adorable. My face flushes again, and I look down.

"Finnick, it's okay, really. Plus, soon maybe I'll be with her, wherever she is." I kick my feet in the air, enjoying the way the cool air stings a bit.  
"Don't say that," Finnick says, angrier than I've ever heard him.  
"You know it's true. I've accepted it, I'm pretty sure you can too." I don't look at him.

"I have faith in you, Annie Cresta," he leans in closer, and whispers in my ear, "I'm betting on you." That sentence alone sends shivers down my spine; though I'm not sure if it's because of what he said, or if it was because he was the one who said it.

"You don't even know me," I say, still not looking at him, though I can feel his eyes on me.

"I'd like to know you. But I can't do that if you don't promise to come back."  
"I can't promise something like that. Maybe you could've, you are the famous Finnick Odair," I say, rolling my eyes.

He grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers.  
"Please, don't call me that. Call me Fin," he asks, almost begging.

"Alright Fin." Then I start to laugh, and I'm covering my hand with my mouth. Fin smiles at me, and I laugh even harder.

"What?" he says, laughing with me.  
"If only you knew what I thought of you all this time," I say, still giggling.  
"And what was that? That I'm incredibly and desirable? Let me guess, you have pictures of me on your wall?" he winks.  
I burst out into laughter.

"No,-" I say trying to catch my breath, "the complete opposite. I used to think you were a self absorbed sexist pig, who needed 24/7 access to a mirror."

It goes silent, but then we're both toppling over, laughing until our stomachs can't take it anymore.

We're laying side by side, looking up at the sky neon lit sky of the capitol, trying to catch our breath.

We calm down, and it's silent again but it's not uncomfortable.

"I hope you still don't think those things about me," he says, turning his head to look at me. His eyes are greener in this dim lighting, and they look so mysterious, I could get lost in them forever.

"No. I was completely wrong. You're none of those things, I promise." I give him a small smile, and he returns it back.

"Good."

I'm dozing off to sleep, when someone grabs me from underneath, carrying me bridal style. I know it's Finnick, and I'm to tired to open my eyes. He brings me to my room, and places me in bed, tucking me in.

"Good night, Annie," he says, kissing my forehead. But I'm far to gone into sleep to say anything back. But I think it. _Goodnight Finnick. _

**A/N: Yay, chapter two! Again, let me know what you think? Good, bad, in between, fkdhfjdhsf what? Please review, it gives me motivation! I'll update quickly, I promise! Stay golden! **


	3. Chapter 3

I'm woken up by someone gently shaking me. I pry my eyes open, and see Finnick a few feet away.

"It's time to wake up, and well, I thought my face first thing in the morning is something that would make anyone's day," he smirks.

I roll my eyes, and roll over, burying my head into my pillow, and pulling the covers on top of me.

"Who cares if I get up or not? In a few days I'll be dead," I mumble into the pillow.

Finnick comes and picks me out of the bed, and carries me to the bathroom, then sets me down.

"I told you, don't say that. Now get ready, you have training today." He walks out of the room, and I go and take a shower, and get dressed. I throw on my training clothes, and out my hair into a high ponytail. I notice the pants are a little to tight fitting, to show off my butt and legs, but I think it's for the game makes benefits, not ours. I'm here before Michael, and I sit down, grabbing a croissant and stuffing my face.

Michael comes, and everyone makes small talk, but I'm more focused on the food. Now that I realize it, I'm hungry now that I'm in the capitol. And we don't have food like this at home. _Home. Some place I'll never see again. _

Mags starts talking about training techniques, and I pay attention, but my focus is on Finnick. His bright green eyes, and his perfectly subtle messy hair, the way he eats sugar cubes like they're his lifeline, the way he bites his lip sometimes when he's thinking…

"Annie? Are you listening? This is important," Anita says, interrupting my thoughts.  
"I'm listening," I say, a blush forming on my cheeks.

They continue and I fiddle my thumbs.

"Today is the day Careers are going to pick people to join them. If you impress them, they'll come up to you, and persuade you into their group. It's worse however, if you reject them, because you have a target on your back," Finnick says.

"I'm not joining the careers. I wouldn't even if I had skills to show," I say bluntly.  
"I'm not joining them either," Michael adds.

"Joining the careers isn't the first thing I would do, but you guys might be safer if you do join them," Finnick continues.

"I said I will not join them, that's that" I snap.

I'm usually never like this, but I figure, life's short.

"Actually, Annie and I were going to team up… in the arena…" Michael says cautiously.

Mags and Finnick are quiet not saying anything.

"We both have skills the other person could use, and I trust her," he says. He smiles at me, and I blush, looking away.

"Alright—whatever you guys want to," Finnick says, clenching his jaw afterwards. His attitude is different. It's not angry, but I can't exactly place it.

"So, today, like I said, focus on the snares, plants, and fire stations. That way, you don't stand out to the careers, and you learn important survival skills." Mags says.

They walk Michael and I down to training, and we automatically stick with each other. We head to the plants table, and start learning about poisonous and non-poisonous plants.

I feel eyes staring at me, but I'm not sure if it's the game maker and his 'puppets', or one of the tributes, but I don't dare look.

Lunch comes around, and I get my food, walking to an empty table for Michael and I, when someone stands in front of me. I jerk back, and look at the boy, no more than my age. His shirt says he's from District 1. _A Career. _

"Hi, I'm Wade. You should come sit with us, 4," he looks at my District number.  
"Um, no thank you. I'm fine," I say trying to skirt around him.

"Not so fast, you could at least tell me your name!"  
"A-Annie," I stutter.  
"Annie," he smirks, "it fits you. It's sexy."

I look everywhere but him, trying to find a way to escape.

"I'll be talking to you later Annie," he laughs, and walks to join his career table.

I'm shaking a bit, because he scared me. He had big muscles, and blonde hair, and a scar running from his cheek to right above his lip.

Michael joins me a minute later.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks.  
"I'm fine," I say, smiling at him.

Before I know it, lunch is over, and we're back to training. I've gone to the snare table, and Michael went to the camouflage. I learned to tie knots in District 4, so the snares are actually easy. All of the sudden, I feel large hands over mine, helping me set it up.

"Here, I'll help you." I know it's Wade by his gravel like voice. I swallow loudly, and pull back.

"I'm fine, but thank you anyway."

I hate being mean to people, even if they scare me.

"So, Annie, I was thinking, I think you should join the careers. We can get you far in the games, you must know that." He's smiling, and it creeps me out even more.

"I was planning on working by myself… it's better that way. I think I'll manage," I say, avoiding his death stare.

"We could use you. You've been studying the plants, and your knots are spectacular. Nothing could break them. And you could use us. Food, shelter, and protecting don't come often in the games."  
"I appreciate you asking, but I still am going to work alone," I say.

I begin to walk away, when suddenly, something pinches my butt, and I let out a little yelp.

"Don't try and hide that you don't find me attractive. Think of it Annie. Me and you in the games… we could be unstoppable. And we'd be with each other all the time, another plus," he winks.

"Those girls," he nods to the two career girl tributes, "have nothing that you can give me. Beauty and skills. Don't be dumb, join us."

He's squeezing my wrist to hard, and I struggle to get it free.

"I told you no," I say, anger boiling in my throat.  
"You need time to think. I'll give you till tomorrow, think about it," he says, while pinching my butt once again. My skin crawls at his touch, and I want to shower the filth away, but I move onto the camouflage table. I can't find Michael, but I work there anyway. This is going to be tougher than I thought.

Training is over, and we're told to shower and dress for dinner, to talk about our day.

When I get to the table, everyone is there, and I feel like I'm always late, but oh well. We start to eat, and training has made my appetite stronger. Who knew such a frail body could hold so much food.

"So, how was training?" Anita asks.

"It went well. I learned a bunch of stuff today, and tomorrow I'm going to work on my strength. The careers didn't even notice me, so I think I'm good," Michael says.

"Fabulous! And what about you Annie?" Anita asks, batting her eyelashes.

"It was…fine." I say.

There's a silence, but then Michael talks.

"You're not gonna tell them?"

I swallow hard, and look at him sternly.

"Tell them what?" I ask, trying to be clueless.  
"Annie, that wasn't right, he shouldn't of done that, and you know it" Michael says.  
"Drop it, it was nothing, I'm over it, see," I say, shooting him a smile, and stuffing my face with more food. All eyes are on me.

"Care to tell us what happened?" Finnick asks.

I stay silent, but Michael answers for me.

"One of the careers was harassing Annie all day. She seemed to be handling it, till he started to touch her ass," he shoots me a glare.

Finnicks jaw is clenched, Mags has her mouth wide open, and Anita has her penciled on eye brows raised.

I let out a sigh, "He wanted me to join the careers. I didn't do anything impressive, I swear! I focused on plants, and camouflage, and snares, but nothing big! I told him no, over and over, but he said I have until tomorrow to give him a real answer. It's nothing, I promise."

Silence takes over the table again, and I look down.

"I'm not very hungry…" I say, as I get up and leave the table. I know one of them is bound to follow me this time, so I don't go to my room. I walk around, and to the roof of the entire building. It's not really safe, considering any tribute could come up here, and I'm a ledge away from not even entering the games, but I don't care. I stay up there until the sun is no longer there, and the bright lights take its place. I feel happier right now, though with everything that's about to happen, I shouldn't be. But I am. I skip down the hallways, to my room, and bounce on the bed. If I close my eyes, it's like I'm back home, jumping on the bed with Kaia.

I don't here her come in, but when I open my eyes, I see Mags, smiling at me. I feel embarrassed, and jump off, sitting back down.

"I didn't mean to startle you. You looked so happy, it's the best thing I've seen in a long time," she smiles.

I motion for her to sit next to me.

She sits, and begins talking.

"I just wanted to see how you were, considering everything that's happened this week."  
"Well, other than the fact that I'm terrified of going into the games, I'm okay. You and Finnick, and Michael, and Anita, sometimes, make me feel more at home, so I'm okay." I give her a small smile, and she motions for me to turn so my back is facing her. She starts to braid my hair, and I'm reminded of Kaia.

"It's hard Annie, I know. But you've brought something that has given us all hope. You're—special. You bring a certain lightness that lights up a whole room. It's something Finnick and I haven't felt in a long time. Seeing you jumping on the bed, makes me happy, because you have beauty and happiness, even in dark times."

A soft smile is forming at my lips. I've always liked Mags, even when I didn't talk to her. But talking to her now, is making me so warm and happy. She's so motherly, and this is what I needed.

"Mags, can I tell you something?"  
"Of course, anything, my dear," she says as she continues braiding.

"When I was young, my mother died. She was in the market, when the building collapsed. No one could of known it was going to happen. I didn't even get to say goodbye. After that, my father left my sister and I to fend for ourselves. I don't mind though, we were never close, him and I. I just miss my mom so much. The only thing I have left of her now, is this ring," I say, taking it off, and handing it to Mags, who studies it. I notice she has tears in her eyes, but so do I .

"It's beautiful," she says, carefully handing it back to me. "It matches the color of your eyes." The turquoise green stone shines, and I smile.

"This is my token for the arena. But the thing is, it's so special… I don't want to bring it, and have me end up dying. I want it to be in the hands of someone special."  
"You're not going to die. Annie, we all have faith in you. There's something different about you. So, you're going to wear it into the arena to have your mother with you at all times. And it will be on a special persons finger, there's no doubt about it.. Believe in yourself, you can do this." She hugs me tightly, and I sob into her shoulder. We stay like that for a few minutes, when someone knocks on the door. Michael and Finnick come in, carrying food, and have cheesy smiles on their faces.

"Mind if we join you two lovely ladies? We brought food!" Finnick jokes. I smile, as they come in and sit next to Mags and I. Thankfully, the tears are gone.

We sit and joke for a while, throwing and catching food in our mouths.

"What's it like?" I suddenly asked, shocked that I said it, when I didn't mean to.  
"What's what like?" Finnick asks.  
"The arena," I say just as quickly.

Mags and Finnick tense, and I know it's not the thing you should ask around victors.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous and I wasn't thinking, I'm so so sorr—"  
"Annie, it's okay," Finnick says, giving me a sad smile.

"What's it like?" he continues, "well, it's different from when you're watching it on TV. When you're in there, it becomes, I don't know, real. I can't really explain it Annie—once you come out, it changes you, whether you like it or not."

And that's all he says, and I don't question him about it. We stay quiet for a few moments longer, but then we're back to joking and laughing.

Mags yawns, and moves to get up. I go over and help her.

"I'm going to bed for tonight. But you guys stay, and enjoy this time while you can," she says smiling. She leaves, and Michael and Finnick start throwing some grapes at me.

"Hey, that's not fair! It's 2 against 1!" And I'm laughing, and clutching my stomach, and defending myself from the great grape attack.

We settle down.

"I know," Finnick says, "let's play truth or dare!"

I roll my eyes, a smile on my lips, and we begin.

"Okay Annie, you're first, truth or dare?" Michael asks.  
"Truth," I say.  
"Who in this room, would you make out with, if you had the chance?"  
"Really dude? You're sitting next to Finnick Odair. Nice try on that one," Finnick jokes.  
I laugh, "Hm.. I'm gonna have to go with…" I pause to let the anticipation climb, "me." And I laugh. They look confused but laugh with me.

"You said who in this room, and last time I checked, I was in this room. Also, I can't handle my good looks," I say, winking at them.

"Next time, Cresta," Michael says, with a smirk.

"Okay my turn!" I say. "Finnick, truth or dare?"  
"I'm feeling daring tonight," he says.  
"I dare you…to make us all the best hot chocolate you can possibly make."  
"What kind of dare is that?" he scoffs.  
"Well, I want hot chocolate, but I'm way to lazy to make it. Why Odair, aren't up for the challenge?" I joke.  
"Oh I'm up for the challenge all right. In fact, I'm feeling so daring tonight, I might even add marshmallows" he laughs.  
I gasp, "A scandal!"  
And we all laugh. And I realize how truly happy I am here, just days before my death.

Finnick makes us all hot chocolate, and we head back to my room, and continue playing.

"Michael, truth or dare?" Finnick asks.  
"Truth," he smiles.  
"You guys are no fun! But anyways—what's one of your embarrassing stories. Something tells me you have more than one," he says.

Michael sighs, and runs his hand through his hair.

"One time, my Dad took me fishing. We were on the boat, and this was when I was younger, and I was just learning how to fish. I had a spear and we'd been trying for hours. Then, another boat was sailing by, and there was beautiful girl. I got distracted, and tried to show off my 'skills', by throwing the spear, and catching a fish. Somehow, the spear caught onto my shorts and boxers, and they kind of ripped off, with the spear, into the water, and I was stuck there, naked, with a girl just staring at me. Happy now?"

Finnick and I were rolling around, gasping for air from all of the laughter. Michaels face was bright red, and I felt bad, so I thought I'd make him feel better. I

"Don't worry, I'm sure she wasn't disappointed," I said, joking and winking.

"Annie, I didn't know you had it in you," Finnick teases. And we all start laughing this time.

We play for a bit longer, but it's getting late, and we all decide to go to bed.

_White walls. White floors. White chair. _

"_Annie Cresta. Sit," a voice booms throughout the room. I lower myself to the chair, which is cold to the touch. _

_President Snow walks into the room, a smug smile on his face._

"_You're weak. You're nothing. You don't deserve the love of the capitol" he says suddenly. I can't talk, and he's standing, staring, and repeating those words to me._

"_You're weak. You're nothing. You don't deserve the love of the capitol."_

_I close my eyes, and start to count. _

'_1, 2, 3, 4,…" I think._

_Snows voice is drowned out, and I'm counting. I open my eyes, seeing that I'm alone in this white room. I let out a sigh, but then I feel…wet. _

_I look down, and see bright red, seeping through the white clothes. I'm bleeding. My breathing hitches and I'm spinning, and running around, looking for something to help stop the bleeding. _

_So much blood. _

"Rise and shine Annie! Training, Day 2!" Anita chirps, waking me from my nightmare. I'm sweating, and shaking, looking everywhere for pools of blood, but I find now.

"It was just a dream," I whisper.

I shower, dress, and go down to breakfast.

"Annie, what are you gonna do about this Career?" Michael asks.  
"I'm going to tell him no, like I did yesterday."

"Good," he smiles at me.

"You are putting a target on your back, but not as big as it would be if he hated you," Finnick adds.

"Thanks for the reassurance," I joke.

We finish breakfast, and head down to training. Things are calm, and I'm shifting from table to table, learning as much as I can.

Someone puts an arm around my shoulder, "So, Annie, have you thought about what I said yesterday?" Wade asks. I wiggle out of his grasp, and walk around,  
"Yes, and like yesterday, my answer is still no, sorry," I say, trying to avoid him.  
"You're making a big mistake," he says through clenched teeth.

"Then the mistake will fall on me, not you," I say, finally looking up at him. He's angry. Before I realize what's happening, his hand smacks across my face. The noise is so loud, the room goes silent, and everyone looks over.

My face is stinging, but I'm restraining from showing pain.

"Quick, we need ice over here! We can't have her face all swollen for the interviews in a few days!" one of the instructors yells. I laugh at the irony that we're training for the act of killing others, and I'm getting ice because I got slapped.

"Alright, it's lunch time now," the instructor says. "You," she points to Michael, "take her up to your apartment, and get her cleaned up and ready, then come back down once lunch is over to resume training."

Michael rushes over to me, helping me up, even though I tell him I'm fine. I'm surprised the instructors and game maker are letting me clean up after this, it's just a slap. It's nothing compared to what's about to happen.

We get to our floor, and we walk in to see Mags and Anita sitting, and chatting.

"Annie, Michael, what are you doing here?!" Anita yells.  
"The career slapped Annie in the face. They wanted her to come up her to get cleaned up, and to make sure her face won't be swollen for the interviews" Michael explains.

Mags rushes to me, presses the ice gently on my cheek.

"Are you okay sweetie?" she asks me.  
"I'm fine," I smile. "Where's Finnick?"

Mags face drops, but then she smiles to cover it up. "He's out doing errands for the capitol," she says, cringing at the word errands. _I wonder what that means._

"So, tell us what happened dear!" Anita says.  
"Well, he asked me if I thought about what he said yesterday. I said yes, and that I hadn't changed my mind. He told me I'd made a huge mistake, and I told him that he shouldn't worry because the mistake would fall on me, and only me. And then he slapped me."

Everyone's quiet, and looking down. I see pain on Mag's face, Anita is just shocked I was slapped, not that she actually cares, and Michael looks… upset.

"I'm back, and I'm starving, what'd you guy—" Finnick says, walking in the room.  
"Annie? Michael? What are you guys doing here?"

"Just came to say hello, " I smile.  
"You're not allowed. Why are you really here?" he asks.  
"The career slapped Annie in the face when she said no," Michael says quietly.

Finnick runs over, and touches me cheek, caressing it with his thumb. I blush, and feel butterflies in my stomach. _Stop, he's your mentor, control yourself! _

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks. I look into his green eyes, and I feel like we're the only two people in the room.  
"I—I'm fine," I stutter.

He brings me some lunch, and ices my cheek, before it's time to go back down to training.

"Annie," he says, pulling me back for a second.  
"If he hurts you again… ruin him." His face is angry, and it's scary, but comforting that he's reacting because someone hurt me.  
"I'll try. You know me, being all macho and tough," I laugh.

He smiles, and leans in and kisses my red cheek.

I walk back, and finish my training for today.

I still get butterflies when I think of Finnick. And I don't know why.

**A/N: Another chapter's up, holla! Please read and review, reviews mean so much to me, and it takes so little time. Let me know what you think! **


	4. Chapter 4

We head back to training, and I avoid the careers as much as possible. I go to the knot table, because that's where I'm most comfortable. If I close my eyes, and feel the rope, it's almost like I'm back home. I think of my mother, and tears fill my eyes. I remember the song she used to sing me to sleep with.

_Hear the ocean wind_

_Here it comes again_

_You know it feels right_

_So let the sunlight in_

_Your arms are open wide_

_Embrace the rising tide_

_It washes over all you hold inside_

_Feel the motion  
Of the ocean waves_

_They call for you_

_Let them take you_

_Far away where_

_You can start anew_

_Don't let them break you down_

_Like you always do_

_Won't you come with me_

_We'll sail across the sea_

_Set adrift on_

_A ship of harmony_

A tear falls, and I quickly wipe it away, making sure no one sees. I swallow back the rest of my tears, and bite the inside of my cheek.

I walk over and pick up a knife. My hand shakes, and the thoughts of killing these people that are in the room with me, disgusts me. I throw knife after knife, trying to do as best as I can. Either I'm lucky, or I'm not that bad, because most of them stick, some of them actually hitting right on the target. My muscles are aching by the time we're dismissed, and I go straight to the room I was given. I plop down on the bed, and relish the feeling of the silk sheets against my skin.

Eventually, I get up and shower and change, and make my way to the living room, where everyone is sitting.

I can literally feel my eyes drooping, but I have to stay awake otherwise Anita would rip her hair out of her wig.

"Annie, you look tired! Don't worry; we'll head in early tonight. Anyways, how was training? No more face slaps I assume?" she laughs, and everyone in the room glares at her.

"The only one going to get slapped is you if you don't shut up," I mumble.  
"Annie dear, don't mumble, it's not lady like, now what did you say?" Anita asks.

I plaster on the biggest fake grin I can, "I said I love your outfit today. It looks marvelous!"

Apparently Finnick, Michael, and Mags all heard my first comment, and they're trying their best not to burst out into fits of laughter.

"Thank you! I didn't know how it would look, but now I know I chose the right outfit!" And I giggle.

I'm playing with my hair, twirling it around my fingers, when suddenly a woman walks in. Her hair and skin are dark blue, and she has diamonds encrusted everywhere on her body.

"Mr. Odair, how nice to see you!" She says.

I look to Finnick, and see a weird expression on his face, but it's gone before I can tell what it is.

"I'm here because President Snow has another—assignment for you. If you'll follow me," she says, extending her hand.  
"Of course, my lady," Finnick says, slowly kissing her hand. She giggles and, plays with his hair. And that's when it hits me, of what they're really going to be doing.

I groan, and roll my eyes, before leaving the room in disgust. I slam the door to the room, and plop down on the bed once again. I look up at the ceiling, trying to find something normal in the capitol; something pure. Everything here is fake and altered. Nothing is what it should be. I look at my mothers ring, holding it in the palm of my hand.

"I miss you mom," I whisper.

Then the tears come. It seems that all I've been doing these past few days is crying.

I miss my mother. I miss my sister. I miss the way we'd make dinner together. I miss the way the sand felt underneath my feet. I miss the smell of the ocean air. I miss the way I'd dance on the beach, not caring who saw me or not.

Once you're sentenced to death, you start taking notice of the small things in life. I fall into a deep sleep, only to be awoken. Today is the day I have to impress the game makers.

We're lead down to a hallway, where each tribute sits in order of their district. I sit in between the tribute from District 3, and Michael. District 3 has two young children; no older than 13, and my heart breaks for them. I think of their families, and I imagine them in the arena, slowing bleeding out. I shiver runs down my spine.

I twiddle my thumbs, waiting as each person is called. By the time it's my turn, my heart is running a million miles an hour.

"Annie Cresta," a voice announces, and my feet automatically walk in to the training room. All the game makers are sitting, eating, and drinking. I take a deep breath, and walk to the middle.

"Annie Cresta—" my voice quivers, "District 4."

I make my way to the snares table, and quickly create a sturdy one, with beautiful knots. Some of them seem impressed, others simply look emotionless. After that, I walk a grab knives. I'm silently praying I don't make a fool of myself.

I throw one, then another, then another. I look up, and see each one has stuck to the target. I hide my shock, and go to the camouflage table. I try to disguise myself as a rock, but I don't know what it looks like to them. After I finish, they announce that I am free to go. I practically run to the exit, and sit on the floor, finally being able to breathe without worry. For now.

Michael comes out soon, and we walk back upstairs. In less than an hour, the scores will be announced.

We wait, and make small talk, we we're interrupted by the Capitols Anthem. I bite my lip, anxious to see how well, or poor, I did.

Caesar starts announcing the scores, and I see the Wade got a score of 10. That makes me bite my lip harder.

"District 4! Michael Whishart, with a score of… 10!" We congratulate him.  
"Also from District 4, Annie Cresta," I can hear my heart, and I'm almost positive everyone else in the room can as well. "With a score of…9!"

I release a breath I didn't even realize I was holding.

Things calm down, and I find myself just as tired as yesterday. I head to my room, and lie on my bed thinking of everything and nothing.

There's a knock on my door, and I'm hesitant to answer it, but I get up anyways. Michael stands there, smiling at me.

"Annie," he says.  
"Michael," I say back, smiling.

I open the door, and walk into the room, and he follows.

"I have a question for you," he says.  
"And I just might have an answer."  
"Well—you know that in a few days, we're going into—the games" he pauses, "and well, I was wondering… if tonight we could just have fun, together? Not think about the games, or mention it or anything. Just be teenagers."

I smile, and hug him tightly. He's surprised, but he relaxes immediately.

"I think that's the best idea I've heard of all week," I smile to him.

And that night is one of the best nights I've had.

We run around, chasing each other around the apartment for District 4. We stuff our faces with all the sweets we can possibly eat. We dance and laugh and tell jokes. We even get Mag's to have fun with us. She tells us hilarious stories of her back in District 4, and we laugh until our stomachs hurt.

We settle down, and we all start on a puzzle, when Finnick walks in. His expression is sad, but when he see's us with the puzzle, he smiles.

"Can I help?" he asks, looking at me. I look to the floor, trying to ignore him.  
"Of course," Mags says. He sits next to me, and I feel him watching me, but I just continue on.

We sit there, finishing the puzzle, making small talk.

"Well, I'm going to bed. You kids should too. Goodnight," Mags says, smiling. It hits me, how tired I actually am.

"I'm going to go to bed too," I say, getting up.  
"I'll walk you to your room," Finnick says.  
I swallow hard, "No, that's alright."

He looks to the floor, and I hate that I hurt his feelings, but I walk away.

I'm in silk pants, and a sweatshirt, but I'm still freezing cold. Maybe it's because I realize that the games are only 2 days away.

I creep out of my room, and head up to the roof, which has become my quiet place. When I get up there, I see a figure, sitting over the ledge.

I try to go back before they notice, but the see me.

"Annie?" Finnick asks.  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't think anyone was up here," I say turning around.  
"No, no, it's okay, come sit," he says. I don't move, but then I find my feet walking towards him, and I sit down.

I close my eyes, loving the way the cool crisp air bites at my cheeks.

"Annie?" he asks.  
"Hm…" I say, not bothering to open my eyes.  
"Um—never mind," he says.

We stay silent for a few minutes, before I can't hold it in any longer.

"I was wrong," I say.  
"About what?"  
"About you."

He laughs, "What does that mean?"  
"That you're just as you seem. There is no other side of you. You're a self absorbed, womanizer, who uses his talents to get anything he wants."

I'm surprised I even said this in the first place.

"Annie, I'm not like that! You said just the other day—"  
"And now I'm telling you I was wrong."

He tenses next to me.

"You don't understand _anything," _he snaps.

"I understand enough Finnick. You act all nice and sweet and caring towards me, but deep down, you're an asshole. I'd rather train with Mags."  
"I do care about you Annie! I'm not like that, I swear, you don't know anything, just please,-"  
"You don't care Finnick. And I don't blame you. It's easier if you don't care. I'm going to die. I don't want to live my last days, crying over what could have been. I'm going to die. I'm not okay with it, but it's going to happen."

"No Annie, you're coming home. I'm going to make sure of it," he says, grabbing my hand.

"Don't touch me," I say, as I snap my hand out of his reach. "I'm not some beautiful, extravagant Capitol girl. I'm not like them. I don't do the things that they do. I'm not one who swoons over the act of you smiling. Well maybe, but that's not the point. The point is you can't treat me like them," I say, my voice raised more than it should be.

"Annie, I know you're not like them. That's why you're different."  
"Stop trying to make me something I'm not Finnick. I'm nothing—" my voice cracks there. I can't finish my sentence, because once I think about it, I'm right. I'm nothing.

"No!" he screams. "You are something. And you're coming home."  
"Yes, because I, little fragile Annie, can kill 23 other people, just to come home, to what? My sister? I've been a burden to her all my life. I know she loves me, but now she can be free."

"You can come home to me," he says.

I look at him, and right then and there, I know, that I've fallen for Finnick Odair. And that's the worse thing that could possibly ever happen.

"You're Finnick Odair—"  
He chuckles, "yes, I'm Finnick Odair."

"You're still a self absorbed pig, whether you think so or not," I say.

His face looks down, and I start to laugh uncontrollably.

"You think that's funny Cresta?" he says.  
"I think it's funny, that you can make yourself swoon by just flexing in the mirror," I laugh. He laughs with me.

The laughter stops, and we fall into a comfortable silence.

"I hate that you think that way of me," he confesses.  
I look to him, with sorrow, "I don't really. I only said that because of that woman you saw earlier—I get it's your business and you can have fun with your girlfriend and such, but I don't want to be thinking of that. I want to focus on right now, and what's going to happen in two days."

"Wait," he says, "you think she's my girlfriend?" he asks.  
"Yes?"  
"No," he says clenching his jaw. "She's not."

More silence.

"Finnick?" I ask.  
"Yeah?"  
"What does Snow really have you doing?"

I know from the look on his face, that I shouldn't of asked, but I can't help it.

"You can't know. It's better if you don't anyways."  
My brow is furrowed, and I don't want to let him drop it, but I don't want to keep pushing.

"Hey," he says, nudging my shoulder, "don't worry about me. I'm Finnick Odair," he says, flexing his muscles. I giggle, and nudge him back.  
"Yeah, but you have nothing on the one and only Annie Cresta," I wink.  
"That, is very true."

I dangle my feet, and block out the sound of parties and excitement of the Capitol.

"Finnick?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I'm not ready," I say.  
"I don't think anyone really is. But you'll make it. You're tough as nails."

We stay silent, until I'm almost falling asleep, and we walk back to my room.

We say goodnight, and I crawl into bed, thinking of the games, thinking of my mom, and thinking of—Finnick.

We're woken up early in the morning, to prepare for our interviews for later tonight. We decide to join together in coming up with strategies, giving us more time, and to know what we're aiming for.

Mags, Michael, Finnick, and I all sit in the living room, eating our breakfast.

"So tonight is the interview, and this is one of the most important events. You have to make people like you," Finnick says.

"Annie, Mags and I came up with an image for you. You're going to be the sweet, innocent, ocean girl, who's intelligent and knows when to fight."

'_I don't even know if I can fight at all' _I think.

"Michael, you'll be the strong, flirty guy, who's trying to win for his family."

Michael nods, but I can tell he's nervous.

We spend the rest of the day practicing our interviews, when we're called down to our stylists.

I'm poked and prodded, plastered with makeup, tossed in glitter, the whole works. The all finish and look at their creation.

I look in the mirror, and see I'm wearing a rather short dress; but my focus is one the beautiful pearls, stitched one by one. I'm wearing a dress of pearls, literally. It attracts a lot of attention to my body. Instead of sleeves, there a thin lines of pearls cascading slowly down my arms. My hair is pinned to one side with a beautiful pearl clip. I have ruby read lips, and red shoes. I look beautiful.

"Annie, darling, you look beautiful!"  
"Thank you," I smile.

They gush over the dress one more time, before I'm being pushed out the door, and in line for my interview.

There's no time to see Mags or Finnick, but I see Michael, and I smile.

"You look—beautiful, Annie," he says.  
"And you look very handsome yourself!"

I breathe in and out trying to calm myself down, but I'm a wreck. I'm sweating, and I'm extremely nervous. One by one the victors head out to the stage, until I see I'm next. The boy from three is young, and adorable, pleasing the crowd, but I'm more focused on what I'm going to say.

The little boy walks off stage, and I'm being pushed directly on.

"From District 4, Annie Cresta!"

I numbly walk out, forcing a smile, trying not to be a clumsy mess. The roar of the audience is horrifying, but I'm staying focused. Caesar admires my dress, then motions for me to sit down.

He gets the crowd under control at last, and he starts to ask me questions.

"So, Annie, may I say, you look absolutely breathtaking! You're the most beautiful tribute I've seen!" he says.

The audience roars again, but I manage to say, "Oh, I'm definitely not the most beautiful here. Have you seen yourself tonight Caesar? Stunning!"

The audience laughs, and I take a breathe. _Tick Tock, you're almost done, you can do this._

"Quite the charmer. So tell me Annie, what's it like in District 4?"  
"Well," I say, trying to find the perfect words to describe it, "it's unbelievable. The ocean is the most beautiful thing. The way the waves splash, and how different colors reflect of it; the way you're able to flow with it, and feel so—relaxed. It's the most beautiful thing in the world. It's something you need to see for yourself."

The crowd oo's and ah's, but I just spoke from the heart. The ocean is majestic.

"Well, it seems like District 4 is the place to be! The ocean, your beautiful self, and let's not forget the famous Finnick Odair!"

Tons of girls in the audience scream the highest pitched scream I've ever heard, and both Caesar and I cover our ears, laughing.

"He is something," I say.  
"What was it like, having him as your mentor?" he asks, the audience silent. _Oh Finnick, I hope I don't taint their view of you._

"Well, he's actually very helpful. He's helped me so much this past week, I'd be lost without him."

The crowd stays silent, so I quickly add, "And not to mention, how handsome he is!"

The girls scream again, and I know I've said the right thing.

"A few more questions before you go Annie. Is there any special guy back home? Surely a beautiful girl like you has the boys lined up!"

I giggle, "No, there's no boy."  
Caesar fakes a gasp, "That must not be true! There must be someone—"

"Well, there is a boy who I've talked to. He's very sweet, and charming. But he'd never go for someone like me."

"Well, boys will be boys. How would you mother feel about you dating a boy?" Caesar laughs.

I swallow hard, "Actually, my mother passed away when I was young."

A few aw's come from the crowd.

"I'm so sorry to hear that Annie. But she would be very proud of you, would she not?" Caesar asks.  
I give him a sad smile, "She would. That's why I'm going to win—I'm going to win, for her."

Sniffles come from the crowd, and I have to do everything in my power, to not start crying right here on this stage. Thankfully the buzzer goes off.

"And win you shall, from District 4, Annie Cresta!"

The cheers go on, and once I'm off stage, I run, and run, and run.

Tears are falling, but I don't care. I wish I had my mother here with me. I can't win, we all know that! I let myself break for a moment, but I stop crying, and go back out, to see the rest of Michael's interview, although I'm sorry to say I wasn't paying much attention.

Michael walks off stage, and almost collides into me.

"Great job Annie," he says.  
"You too."

Mags and Finnick come and find us.

"You guys did amazing, everyone loves you! And Annie, I'm so sorry—that you had to talk about your mother," Finnick says.  
"Don't worry about it," I say, giving him a smile.

We head back, and go to say our goodbyes. Tomorrow we'll be in the arena. This is the last time I'll see these amazing people again.

Michael says his goodbyes first, then heads to his room in silence.

I hug Anita, who wishes me luck. I thank her, but I'm kind of glad I'm getting away from her, not that she's so horrible.

Next, I hug Mags who holds on to me tightly for someone her age, but I don't mind. In fact, I squeeze her just as hard back. I'm going to miss her, she's such an amazing woman.

"I'm going to miss you Mags," I whisper.  
"I'll miss you too, my sweet Annie. But that's all the more reason for you to come home," she whispers back. I give her a sad smile. She believes in me, but I don't think I believe in myself.

I turn towards Finnick, who looks very upset.

I hug him tightly, and his arms wrap around my waist. We stand here for who knows how long, but when we part, we realize we're the only two left.

"I'll miss you Finnick. Thank you, for everything. You've been—really nice," I manage to say. Finnick himself looks on the verge of tears, but I don't know why. He goes through this every year, what's one more silly girl?

"I'll miss you too Annie," he says, wiping a stray tear off my cheek with his thumb.

"But I won't miss you for long. Because you're coming home." He says.  
"Finni—"  
"No, Annie, please. Just, please." And I know what he means, so I don't say anything more. We hug again, holding tighter, until he lets go.

"You need to go to sleep," he says, stroking my hair.  
"I'm not tired," I lie.  
"I'll pretend you actually mean that. But anyways, you're going to need it, trust me."  
"I do trust you," I say.

He grabs my hand and leads me to the capitol bedroom, my last night here. We hug again, and he kisses my cheek.

I quickly change, and slip under the silk sheets, and fall asleep, dreaming of the arena.

I'm woken up by my prep team, and am escorted to a jet, taking me off to the arena. I go to look out the window, but the windows are tinted black. You can't see in, you can't see out.

We're left off, and I'm escorted once again to a room, by peacekeepers.

I see Jonah, my head stylist, standing there waiting for me. I shower, and change into skin tight black stretchy pants, that are so thin, they won't keep out the cold, and a blue shirt. I'm given black boots, and a black jacket. I make sure my mothers ring is on my finger. Jonah ties my hair into a high ponytail, then leads me to the glass cylinder tube. The tube closes, and I'm looking back to Jonah, frantic, when the tube starts moving up.

The sunlight stings my eyes, and I close them, trying to get adjusted. When they finally are, I look around and see all of the tributes. The countdown has begun, and it's just a matter of time.

The cornucopia is over a huge hill, steep enough to make you fall once or twice.

I look around me, and see empty, open land all around the cornucopia. I look behind me, and see a forest in the right hand corner, and water in the other. _Water. _And in that second, I knew what to do.

_5…_

Almost there Annie, get ready!

_4…_

What if I'm followed? I won't have any weapons.

_3…_

Focus! You're about to run!

_2…_

This is it.

_1… _

_Let the games begin._

**A/N: Hello, so here's another chapter! The Games have started, and I'm so excited to write about the arena haha! Anyways, reviews are most welcome! I'll update as soon as I can! Thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

The horn blasts, and everyone is off their pedestal, running towards the cornucopia. I'm frozen in place for a second, before I force myself to run.

I'm running and running towards the water, far away from the cornucopia. My legs start to burn, and I feel like I'm not getting enough air, but I don't stop running.

The lake is farther than I anticipated, but I still run as fast as I can. I can't tell if anyone's followed me though, and I don't plan on finding out right now.

I'm almost at the lake, when a knife flies just past my head. I turn and see Wade, further away, looking disappointed that he didn't get me. He turns and goes back to the cornucopia.

I reach the water, and dive in, not thinking twice about it. I dive, and open my eyes, having them sting a bit. I know it's salt water. I keep my head below the surface, just in case there is a tribute, waiting for me to poke my head up. I can hold my breath for a few minutes now.

I swim farther and farther, and the lake doesn't seem to be ending soon, but I need more air, so I slowly, lift my head above the water, ready to go underneath should someone of been following me. But no one has. I can't even see where I jumped in, from here. But the lake isn't that wide, so land surrounds the sides. I decide to get out here, and find a camp, even though I have no supplies whatsoever.

Once on land, I walk further away from the lake, finding a fairly secluded area, in what seems to be a forest. I sit down, and drain my long hair of the water it's holding.

'_Now what?' _I think. There isn't really anything for me to do…

I decide to make a net, out of blades of grass, and some twigs. Maybe it'll be useful for later.

I start to knot the grass and twigs together. I do this for a while, when I suddenly hear the canons. I count each one of them as they come.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13… _and it stops. 13 are dead already.

_Hopefully one of them wasn't Michael._

Now that I think about it, 13 is a lot, even for the beginning of the games. My heart aches for the families of all the dead tributes.

A twig snaps from behind me, and I spin around, waiting to be attacked. I back up towards the tree, and wait until I see them.

I see a flash of brown hair, and small feet hiding behind a tree a few feet away.

I notice that she is the young 12 year old from District 9. I cautiously step forward.

"Hello?" I say. She doesn't answer, instead, she hides herself further behind the tree.

"You're the girl from District 9, right?" I say. She pokes her head out, and her eyes are wide, and she's frightened.

"P—please don't hurt m-me," she says, tears in her eyes.  
"No, no, no, it's okay, I won't hurt you, I promise." I give her a smile, and she slowly walks out from behind the tree, holding her arm close to her body. I see the blood, and I let out a breath.

"You're hurt. Come here, I'll help you. I won't hurt you, I promise." She comes to me, and I help her sit down against the tree. I roll up her sleeve, and see a long gash split down her arm. I rip a strip off of the bottom of my shirt, and gently put pressure on it. She winces, but relaxes immediately.

"I'm Annie," I say smiling at her.  
"I know," she smiles back. "I'm Serena."

"That's a beautiful name," I say, ripping another piece of my shirt, and trying it around her arm.

"Did you swim here to?" I ask.

"No. I don't know how. I followed you… on the edge of the lake."

When she said she was following me, I made a face of confusion; I didn't know if she was following me because she liked me, or because she wanted to kill me, regardless that she doesn't look like the killing type. But then again, neither do I.

"I followed you because you remind me of my mom. I wasn't planning on hurting you or bothering you. I just like you."

She looks down at the ground, and I have the urge to hug her. A small smile forms at my lips.

"It's okay. It'll be okay. You know why?"  
"Why" she asks.  
"Because you're with me now. And we'll make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

She smiles so widely, that the light reaches her eyes, and she looks genuinely happy.

"Now, come on. I think it's time we walk, just in case people come and find us. We should look for fresh water too."

I throw the grass net over my shoulder, and rustle up the ground to make it look like no one had been there. We start to walk, when Serena grabs hold of my hand. I'm startled, and she looks sad, but I give her a reassuring squeeze to let her know it's alright. She smiles again, and we continue walking further into the woods, away from the lake..

We walk for what feels like hours, when we finally come across a river, with fresh water. We run over, and take gulps of water down. I wash my face, and Serena wipes the blood off her hands from before.

"We should stay close, and set up a camp, okay?"  
"Okay."

We walk back through the trees, when suddenly, Serena stops, and gasps. I look to where she's looking, and see a tribute, dead, and bloody. Serena buries her head into my stomach, and I stroke her hair.

I swallow back my disgust. Then it hits me that he's not gone yet, meaning he was just killed—there are others around. As if the game makers heard my thoughts, a cannon goes off. They won't pick him up until we're gone. I notice he has a backpack full of supplies, which means he wasn't killed by the careers. I quickly run over, and get the backpack off of him, throw it over my shoulder, and take Serena's hand as we quickly walk away.

We run away, father into the woods, and finally rest near a tree. We sit down, and enjoy being off our feet. We're not far from the water, but we're far enough to be hidden.

Serena sits closer to me, and I see her blonde hair is a tangled mess. I laugh, and pull her in front of me as I start to braid her hair into two french braids.

"Annie, what's it like?" she asks.  
"What's what like?"  
"The ocean?"

I sigh, and close my eyes, imagining it.

"Well, it's beautiful. The color of it. The smell of it. Even the taste of it, though salt water isn't good for you. But, you just kind of lose yourself to it. The way the waves crash against your feet, and it feels like silk against your skin. It's a whole other world, with it's own creatures. When I was little, I used to pretend I was a mermaid, and spend all of my time there. Well, actually, I'll tell you a secret—" I say, as she turns towards me, "I still pretend to be a mermaid. "

I tap her nose, and she giggles.

"I wish I was a mermaid too. Then we could be mermaids together," she says.  
"Well, you are a mermaid Serena! If you close your eyes, and imagine floating and swimming in the water, with a tail, you're one too. A beautiful one."

She smiles to me, and starts playing with the dirt on the ground. She looks up, and grabs my hand, gently touching my ring.

"Where did you get this? It's beautiful."  
"It was my mothers. She died when I was about your age." A tear manages to slip down my cheek, but Serena wipes it away.

"Don't cry—she's proud of you. Maybe—maybe soon I can meet her in heaven. And we'll go to the ocean!"

"Serena, don't say that. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She's silent for a minute, but then she says, "Annie? I'm not going to let anything happen to you either."

Night time comes, and we're on the ground, using moss as pillows, and each other as blankets. I make sure Serena is warm, and I keep watch most of the time.

I look up into the arena sky, and count the "stars". Earlier, the anthem played, but we couldn't bare it. I couldn't bare it. I knew 13 were dead, but I didn't have the heart to look at their faces. I was desperate to know if Michael was still alive, but the thought of him not being alive was worse. So, we listened, never looked.

The cool air is stinging against my skin. I close my eyes, and picture my mother, and the ocean. I find myself dozing off.

"_Mommy, look!" I say, showing her my sand castle.  
"It's lovely Annie," she says, tucking stray hair behind my ear. _

_An huge grin forms on my face. "I want to go in the water!" I say, running in circles.  
"Do you want me to come with you?" my mother asks.  
"Mom, I'm 6 years old, I'm a big girl!" I say, running to the water, leaving my mother to chuckle. _

_My feet hit the water, and I find myself mesmerized by its beauty. I dive, and swim, and splash, and laugh. I am free. This is where I belong._

We wake up the next day, and move about again, staying close to the water at all times. Days turn to nights, then nights into days.

Eventually, we find another spot near the water that looks peaceful and inviting.

Serena sits finds some berries, and brings them for us to share. She knows they're not poisonous. That's how we've been surviving, Nuts, berries, and water.

Serena soon falls asleep on my shoulder, and I smile down at her. She's so young, and innocent, and to think that she's stuck here, in these murderous games is disgusting.

I'm slipping into a doze, when I hear bushes moving. I snap up, and so does Serena, looking around everywhere, to see who, or what, it is.

"Stay here," I say, slowly walking towards the bush, knife in my hand.

Michael walks out, looking beaten and broken, blood coming from his head.

"Michae—" I yell, excited and happy, but all of the sudden, Serena jumps out of no where and starts hitting him as hard as she can. She isn't doing much damage because she's so small, but she gets some good hits. I laugh, but I pry her away from him.

"Serena, it's okay, he's with me!" She relaxes in my arm, and her face turns to regret.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea," she says, walking in circles. I laugh again, and Michael gives her a smile.

"It's alright. Hey Annie, you've got a tough soldier over here," he says, giving me a lop sided grin.  
"I sure do. She's as tough as nails."

Even Serena laughs then. I walk over to Michael, and help him rest against the tree bark. I get the first aid kit I found in the boys backpack, and clean his wounds. He's bandaged, and drinks too much, but he's fine.

"I've been looking for you everywhere. I'm glad I finally found you," he says.  
"I've been worried, I thought you died," I say.

"Hey, I'm right here, I'm okay," he says, squeezing my hand.

"Finnick's given me some food and water these past days. What's he given you?" he asks.

I'm a little stung at the fact that Finnicks been giving Michael things and not me. Serena and I could have used some food and water.

I look away to the dirt, "Um, he hasn't sent anything, actually."  
"Oh," is all he says.

Serena is gathering some wood for a small fire for our lunch. We make a fire, while Michael catches some squirrels for us to eat. We're halfway through eating, when the sky makes a huge thunderous noise. I look up, and don't see anything, but I can feel it in the air. Something is about to happen, and it's not going to be good.

"We should keep moving, just for a little while. I don't want to risk staying here if someone comes," Michael says. We all agree. We pack up, and Michael takes his knife and carves a huge X with two lines underneath to mark the tree; if you didn't know it was there however, you wouldn't see it.

Our feet are blistered and sore, and our sides are cramping, but we keep moving anyways. It feels like we've been walking for hours.

"Wait, stop," Michael says finally.

"Just for a minute, but we should keep moving," I say.

"No, just look around you Annie…" he says.

I look around and see trees and dirt, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Annie, look at the tree…" he says, pointing. There on the tree, is none other than the X with the two lines underneath.

"That's not possible, we've been walking for at least an hour!" I say, frantic.

"Maybe someone else marked this tree the same way as us?" Serena asks.

"No, this is our tree. We've been walking in a circle," Michael says.

"There's no way! Here, Michael, boost me up, I want to see something."

He boosts me up on the tree, and I climb all the way to the top, making sure not to break any branches. I'm sweating by the time I'm at the top, but when I finally reach it, I almost fall right off.

"Oh my god…" I say, barely in a whisper.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Michael asks.  
"I'm coming down," I say.

My foot slips when I'm almost to the ground, and I fall on top of Michael.

"Ow," he says, whimpering from underneath me.  
"I'm so sorry!" I say, getting up, and offering him a hand,

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," he says, giving me a smile, "but what did you see?"

"The arena— it's a maze!"

"A maze?" he asks.  
"Yeah, a maze… the game makers, they're trying to trap us," I say.  
"What should we do?"  
"I—I don't know…." I say, nervously biting my lip.

What can we do? Nothing. They placed a bunch of innocent, well mostly innocent, kids, in an arena to fight to the death. This is their idea of fun. It's a source of entertainment, and it's sickening. I feel tears stinging the back of my eyes, and a lump in my throat; I think of my mother, and Kaia, and even Baron, the young boy who sells his fathers fish at the market. I think of what they'd be doing right now. I think of how they'll feel when I'm gone. Will they be happy? Sad? Or will they not care either way? For once, I see something I've never thought of before. All of us, here in the arena, are alike. We're all just as helpless as each other, and we're all scared, deep down. So what do we do? What can we do?

"Should we set up camp?" Michael asks.  
"I think we should. Moving won't really help us, we'll just get even more lost."

But I know what the idea of the maze is about. It's a maze to finding tributes. A sick twist.

We set up camp, and eat what little food we have. I climb the tree again, getting a better look this time.

I sit on a branch, hidden from sight, scanning the perimeter. The maze seems to go on forever. It's weird though, because there are mountains, and hills, and even a few dams, scattered across the arena. Something about one of the mountains catches my attention.

Far on the other side of where we're staying, is a cave. It's small, but it's there. It's hidden from a few trees, and there's a big boulder near it. If we can get there, and move the boulder in front of it, we could stay there, hidden from the tributes.

Climbing back down is easier, and I'm on the ground in no time.

"There's a cave, not to far from here. We can hide in it. I think we should go there," I say.

"If the arena's a maze, how do we get there?" Michael asks.  
"Well, I know what direction we're going in, and we just hope for the best?" I bite my lip, and play with the grass.

None of us talk after that, and the silence is nice. The sky goes dark, and exhaustion hits everyone. I volunteer to take first watch, since I doubt I can sleep right now.

Michael and Serena fall asleep quickly, leaving me to my thoughts.

_I wonder what Finnick is doing right now, _I think. He's probably off being swooned over by the whole capitol. Part of me hates Finnick… the way he can just act like nothing happened. Part of me wishes he were different. But in the end, he's just part of the capitol, nothing more.

My eyes start to droop, but I don't fall asleep. Instead, I braid my hair over and over, occupying myself from everything. A twig snaps, and I grab for a knife. I wait, and wait, but nothing comes. I relax, but still hold the knife in my hand, not daring to let go.

Suddenly, I feel hands cover my mouth, and pull me from behind. I try to scream, but my shrieks are muffled, and Serena and Michael are to tired to stir without noise.

"Annie, Annie, Annie," says a familiar, scruff voice, "what are we going to do with you?"

I know it's Wade, and a shiver runs down my spine, but not from the cold.

He turns me so I'm facing him, staring into his unforgiving eyes, though he still covers my mouth.

"I thought we could of worked together, you and I. We'd be such a lovely team, don't you think?" he says, whispering in my ear. I close my eyes, and struggle from his grip.

"I like you Annie, I do," he says, pushing back a strand of my hair. "In fact, I like you so much, I think I'll teach you a lesson," he says. I don't know what he means, but he pulls me to the ground, and he hovers on top of me, still covering my mouth. I scream and scream, but the sound is barely audible. Tears are flowing from my eyes, and I kick and scratch, but he's to strong and quick right now.

"Stop moving, or I kill your little friends." I stop squirming, but the tears keep coming.

"Good, I like woman who can take direction. I think it's time for your lesson, Annie."

He lowers himself, and kisses my neck roughly, while fumbling with my shirt. I cry, and scream, and kick, but he has me pinned down. This can't be happening. He throws my jacket aside, and forces my shirt over my head, tying it around my mouth, almost gagging me. I'm crying even harder now as his hands touch my body. I kick and kick, and get a few hits, but he hits me back with just as much force.

"I thought you were going to listen to me Annie, do I have to remind you what will happen?" he says, barring a toothy grin.

He laughs, and grabs my arms, when his eyes go dramatically wide. He gasps, and looks down, and there I see a knife, poking out from his abdomen, with Michael standing behind him.

I move out of the way, and remove the shirt from my mouth, letting the sobs come freely now. I must sound like a dying whale, but I don't care.

The cannon goes off, and I close my eyes. Wade is dead. It could have been me. _It could have been me. _

"Are you okay," Michael says, running over to me. I realize how freezing I am, considering I'm in my bra. I give Michael a quick nod, but I am far from okay.

I throw on my shirt, and jacket, and sit on the ground, burying my face in my hands.

Serena is still asleep, and I'm thankful. There wasn't much noise, and she didn't need to see that. Michael comes over, and sits next to me. He places a hand on my shoulder, and I flinch away. All I can feel is Wade's dirty hands all over me.

"I'm so sorry Annie, I should have woken up sooner!" Michael yells.  
"Shh," I say, "it's okay. You saved me. Thank you."

"I still should have been there sooner, I'm so sorry. From now on, I'll protect you," he says, going to touch my arm again, but quickly realizing, and bringing it away.

I look at him, and the worry in his eyes. I wrap my arms around him, thankful for his bravery, and his warmth. He cautiously hugs me back, and I cry into his shoulder.

"It'll be okay. We can make it."  
"Only one of us comes out Michael, and I have no chance," I say, shaking. It's the first time I've really admitted that I'm going to die.

He doesn't say anything, which I'm thankful for. Instead he just rubs my back until I stop crying. The sun is starting to rise in the arena, so we decide to wake up Serena, and try to find the cave.

We make twists and turns, aiming for the right side of the arena. I can barely see the top of the mountain over the trees.

The sun is beating down on us, more than usual, and I take my jacket off and tie it around my waist. I take a hair tie, and tie my hair into a high ponytail, relishing in the feeling of the wind on my neck. We stay quiet, but it's a comfortable silence.

It feels like we're taking a bunch of different turns, but going no where.

Serena gasps from behind Michael and I, and I turn around to see her shocked expression. Her face is pale, and frigid, and I look down, to see a knife embedded in her side. She falls to the ground, and whimpers, and I look around to see a tribute running off in the other direction.

"Serena!" I say, screaming, running over to her. She's shaking, and blood is flowing out of her side. I carefully pick her up and turn to Michael, who's looking around.

"We have to do something! Go somewhere so we can help her!" I yell. Tears are streaming down my face.

"The cave, it's close, I can see it!" He says. And he's right. Through the shrubs, is the cave, luckily enough? It's not far, but it's not as close as I'd of hoped. We run and run, not caring about making noise, Serena is crying in my arms, and she's getting heavy, but that makes me run even faster. I'm panting, and sweating, and blood is running down my arms from her wound, but I don't care.

We finally make it to the cave, and I set her down carefully, resting her head on my thighs, smoothing her hair. Michael comes in, and looks at her wound.

"It's deep," he says quietly. I know what he's actually saying though: she's gone.

I swallow the lump in my throat, and cry even harder. If only she was in front of us, not behind. We could have saved her.

"Annie—I'm, I'm cold—" she says, shivering. I don't know how she can be cold, when it's burning up in the arena, but I place it as shock.

Michael takes off his jacket, and rests it on top of Serena.

He holds her hand, while she gasps, and shakes, and shivers. She is going to die. She knows it too.

"Annie?" she asks, in the quietest voice.

"Come here, I need to tell you something," she says. I lean down, resting my ear above her mouth.

"Please, you have to win. And when you do, check on my family. Please." She whispers. I don't have the energy to fight her, to tell her she isn't going to die, because she is. I nod my head, giving her a small smile, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

"Annie?" she asks again.  
"Y—yes?" I say, wiping the tears away.  
"Could you sing to me?" she asks, her eyes pooling with tears.  
"Sure," I say.

_Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea  
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;  
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,  
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.  
_

_Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,  
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;  
_

_Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,  
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me  
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me_

Serena goes still, and I close her eyes. This poor little girl is gone. Forever. Everything she had going for her, gone. She'll never see her family again. She'll never find her true love. She'll never have her own family. And all because of these games. Everything is gone for her. I wish I could tell her she isn't alone. There is one thing she knows. She died loved. And that's all I can give her.

Michael picks her up, and we walk out of the cave, and rest her a few yards away. He lays her on the ground, and moves her arms to rest over her chest in an x. He steps back, and lets me forward. I lean to my knees, and kiss her forehead, and brush the hair out of her face. I see a shiny necklace off of her, and put it in my pocket. It was her token. I'm going to give it to her family. They deserve it.

I say a final goodbye, and we walk back to the cave, where Michael moves the boulder in front of the entrance.

The cave is darker, but there is still light shining through. I lean against the earthy walls, bringing my knees to my chest, and silently cry. Michael and I don't say anything. I remember the first time I saw her, she was so scared. I think of how she believes in me, more than I believe in myself. The tears still come, but not as ferociously. I sit up, and see Michael trying to hide a few tears himself. The crying tires me out, and from the lack of sleep from last night, the darkness takes over.

_A girl in a white dress, with flowers, is running around, splashing her feet in the water. She's laughing, and playing, and spinning. I smile, and sit down on the sand, watching her. She turns to face me, and I see Serena. She smiles, and waves for me to come over. _

_I walk over, but I can't reach her. I try to get to her, but I can't. Then, a tall, beautiful woman, with dark hair, and green eyes, walks next to her, and places her hand on Serena's shoulder._

"_M-Mom?" I say.  
"Annie." She smiles at me, and I try ever harder to get to them, but there's a barrier._

"_Annie, we need you to win. For us. I'm watching over Serena. We're happy. But please, win for us."_

_They dissolve into the air, and I'm stuck where I am. I scream, but no sounds come out. _

_Red. Red everywhere. Blood. So much blood. All over my hands, and my face, and in my hair. It's everywhere._

I wake up with a start, sweating, and panting. Michael has fallen asleep too, and he tosses in his sleep. I take deep breaths, and calm myself down. My stomach growls, but I ignore it.

I sit there, quietly, waiting for him to wake up.

I look over, and see a knife on the cave floor. I grip the handle, and feel the smooth blade. But then I think of what _they _expect me to do with this. They expect me to kill. The thought sickens me, and I quickly drop the knife, before I move my leg, and the knife cuts it open. It's not deep, but that was pretty reckless. I ignore it, and play with my mothers ring. It brings me comfort, though I don't know how.

Michael wakes up, and we decide to head out to try and find some food.

"You know, I sat behind you in school everyday, but I was to nervous to talk to you," Michael says, bringing me out of my thoughts. He's smiling, and I give him a funny look.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" I laugh.  
"Why wouldn't I want to talk to you," he says back.

I laugh and push my hair behind my ear.

"I'm not very… popular," I say, looking down at the ground, biting my lip.

"I'm not either. But being popular is overrated. And you knew that. I always saw you reading, and you looked so concentrated, it was adorable."

A blush creeps on my face, and I really hope it's not noticeable.

"But I never got the nerve to talk to you… until we were reaped. I figured if I'm gonna die, I should be able to talk to a beautiful girl," he says, smiling.

As if it was even possible, my face turns even more red. But my heart aches from what he said.

"Don't say that. You're not going to die. I—I can protect you. You're gonna make it," I say.  
"I don't doubt that you will protect me. But maybe I don't need your protection, considering I'm protecting you."

"We'll protect each other then," I say.  
He turns to me, and smiles, "Deal."

We walk a but further, looking for animals, or berries, or anything, but there is nothing.

Eventually, we sit down for a break, resting against a tree, facing each other.

Curiosity strikes, and I blurt it out before I even realize I'm talking, "What's your favorite color?"

He smiles, and runs his hands through his hair, "Blue. But not just regular blue." He moves closer to me, and we're face to face, and he's still smiling, which makes me smile.

"Have you ever been to the ocean at sunset?" he asks.

I nod my head, I go almost everyday.

"Well at just the right time, the sun reflects off the water, and creates kind of a soft turquoise. It's not to bright, but it's not to subtle. It reminds me that there is beauty still left in the world."

He looks down like he's ashamed, and I start to laugh. He looks up, grinning.

"What's so funny?" he asks.  
"That's my favorite color to. I mean, I could never of described it like that, but it's mine to."

We decide to keep walking, even though we're sure we won't find anything.

Michael stops, and turns to me.

"Annie, I need to tell you something," he says, looking deeply into my eyes.  
"Okay," I say, not quite sure what he's going to say.  
"Annie—" he pauses, taking in a deep breath, "I love you."

Something happens, and I'm frozen in place. I can't move. But it's not because he said he love me. It's because I can see in slow motion, an ax whip by, and sever his head.

Warm liquid covers me, but I'm still frozen. I could literally hear a snap in my mind, telling me that I'm not okay. But I can't move.

His head has rolled to my feet, and his eyes are open, piercing into mine. I start to shake, and feel the blood fall off my body.

I hear screaming, but I don't know who it is. They're screaming loudly. I cover my ears and shut my eyes, but the screaming is still there. It won't stop. _Make it stop! _I think.

I see people moving around me, but I can't move, and I can't see who they are, not that I care. Laughing. I hear laughing all around me. Still can't move. Still shaking. _Why am I shaking? _I don't know.

My eyes focus on a severed head. _Oh, that's Michael's head. His head is at my feet. But where's his body? Oh, it's over there. Why is it over there? _

Suddenly I find my feet moving. Running, and running, and running. I still hear screams, where are they coming from!? I keep running. It feels like hours. And then I trip, and I don't get up this time. I lie there, frozen, not looking at anything particular, not really knowing anything, I'm just lying. It's freezing, but I don't care. I don't know when, but I find myself sitting up against the bark of a tree.

The screams have stopped. My body is frozen in place. _Why is it so cold?_

A beeping sound comes, and a parachute falls in front of me. Why are there parachutes falling from the sky? Is that normal? What is normal anyway?

I don't pick it up. I stay still, not daring to move. I sit and stare. _What am I staring at? Where am I? Who am I? _

I stare at the wall. I can't do anything else. Why did this happen? Why me? Why Serena? Why Michael?

My stomach grumbles, well, I think it does, but I'm to disgusted to eat. _Why can't I just die already?!_

I start to rock back and forth, but it takes me a minute to notice. An old lullaby my mom used to sing to me plays in my head. I hear someone humming along… oh, I'm the one humming,

I sit. The opening in the cave gets lighter and darker. I think the days are passing but I don't know. I don't care. I haven't moved. My muscles are stiff. But I don't care. Nope nope nope.

I loose myself now and then. I don't know who I am, or what I'm doing, and where to go. I always loose myself. But I come back eventually. I wish I didn't come back. At least when I'm lost in my mind, there is no pain, there is no sadness.

_Crack. _The cave walls start to rumble. Something snaps inside of me, and I'm on my feet, walking out of the cave clumsily, and looking over the horizon. I can't even take it in for two seconds, before a huge wave of water comes and carries me away.

_Water. Water!_

And then I'm swimming, swimming, swimming, and nothing can hurt me, and I'm free again. And I'm laughing, laughing, laughing, and I can't stop.

Canons, canons, canons… boom, boom, boom. People are dying.

_Why am I not dead?  
_

And then a loud voice comes ringing through my ears.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the winner of the 70th annual Hunger Games: Annie Cresta!"

And then, a ladder is placed in front of me, and I'm grabbing, grabbing, grabbing. I'm pulled up by someone or something, and then, I go blank. The darkness takes over.

**Yay another chapter! Sorry it took me so long! This chapter was fun to write, I hope it's okay :D. Don't forget to review, it means so much to me!****I'll update soon, happy reading!**


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